Application of the solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) method to organic electrochemistry—III. Kolbe type reactions on Pt-SPE

The feasibility of a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) method for Kolbe type reactions was investigated by using Pt-SPE composed with Nafion 415 and platinum. The Kolbe reaction of acetic acid proceeded effectively on one side and both sides Pt-SPE composites. The lower current efficiency was observed on the latter than on the former. Neat acetic acid could also be electrolysed on both sides SPE though the cell voltage was fairly high.A methanolic solution of monomethyl adipate was electrolysed to give dimethyl sebacate on both sides Pt-SPE according to the Brown-Walker reaction. The current efficiency and the terminal voltage increased with the concentration of monomethyl adipate. Pt-SPE behaved as an active electrode of a high roughness factor, eg about 6, for the Kolbe reaction of acetate.     

Surface active N-acylglutamate: I. Preparation of long chain N-acylglutamic acid

Long chain N-acylglutamic acid was prepared in a high yield by a reaction of glutamic acid with fatty acid chloride in a mixed solvent of water and a water miscible organic solvent such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran,t-butyl alcohol or cyclohexanone. In this reaction the composition of the mixed solvent influenced the yield of N-acylated glutamic acid and the best yield was obtained when the reaction was carried out in the mixed solvent comprising 30–60% v/v of the organic solvent. Long chain N-acylaspartic acid was also obtained in a high yield by the same method. As the other method to obtain N-lauroyl-D L-glutamic acid, it was examined that N-acyl-α-aminoglutarodinitrile which was obtained by a reaction of α-aminoglutarodinitrile with fatty acid chloride was hydrolyzed with an aqueous alkaline solution. The salts of long chain N-acylglutamic acid are known as the surface active agents that react mildly on the human skin.     

Effect of surface modification using various acids on electrodeposition of lithium

Sulface modification of lithium was carried out using the chemical reaction of the native film with acids (HF, H₃PO₄, HI, HCl) dissolved in propylene carbonate (PC). The chemical composition change of the lithium surface was detected using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrodeposition of lithium on the as-received lithium or the modified lithium was conducted in PC containing 1.0 mol dm^–3 LiClO₄ or LiPF₆ under galvanostatic conditions. The morphology of electrodeposited lithium particles was observed with scanning electron microscopy. The lithium dendrites were observed when lithium was deposited on the as-received lithium in both electrolytes. Moreover the dendrites were also formed on the lithium surface modified with H₃PO₄, HI, or HCl. On the other hand, spherical lithium particles were produced, when lithium was electrodeposited in PC containing 1.0 mol dm^–3 LiPF₆ on the lithium surface modified with HE However spherical lithium particles were not obtained, when PC containing 1.0 mol dm^–3 LiClO₄ was used as the electrolyte. The lithium surface modified by H₃PO₄, HI, or HCl was covered with a thick film consisting of Li₃PO₄, Li₂CO₃, LiOH, or Li₂O. The lithium surface modified with HF was covered with a thin bilayer structure film consisting of LiF and Li₂O. These results clearly show that the surface film having the thin bilayer structure (LiF and Li₂O) and the use of PC containing 1.0 mol dm^–3 LiPF₆ enhance the suppression of dendrite formation of lithium.     

Domain-specific discrete event modelling and simulation using graph transformation

Graph transformation is being increasingly used to express the semantics of domain-specific visual languages since its graphical nature makes rules intuitive. However, many application domains require an explicit handling of time to accurately represent the behaviour of a real system and to obtain useful simulation metrics to measure throughputs, utilization times and average delays. Inspired by the vast knowledge and experience accumulated by the discrete event simulation community, we propose a novel way of adding explicit time to graph transformation rules. In particular, we take the event scheduling discrete simulation world view and provide rules with the ability to schedule the occurrence of other rules in the future. Hence, our work combines standard, efficient techniques for discrete event simulation (based on the handling of a future event set) and the intuitive, visual nature of graph transformation. Moreover, we show how our formalism can be used to give semantics to other timed approaches and provide an implementation on top of the rewriting logic system Maude.     

Neural network approach for multicriteria solid transportation problem

In this paper, we propose neural network approach for multicriteria solid transportation problems(STP). First we suggest a neural network architecture to solve single-objective STP according to augmented Lagrange multiplier method. Due to the massive computing unit-neurons and parallel mechanism of neural network approach can solve the large scale problem efficiently and optimal solution can be got. Then we transform the original multicriteria problem into a single objective problem by global criteria method and adopt the neural network approach to solve it. By this way we can get the satisfactory solution of the original problem. The procedure and efficiency of this approach are shown with numerical simulations.     

Neural network technique for fuzzy multiobjective linear programming

Neural Network(NN) is well-known as one of powerful computing tools to solve optimization problems. Due to the massive computing unit-neurons and parallel mechanism of neural network approach we can solve the large-scale problem efficiently and optimal solution can be gotten. In this paper, we intoroduce improvement of the two-phase approach for solving fuzzy multiobjectve linear programming problem with both fuzzy objectives and constraints and we propose a new neural network technique for solving fuzzy multiobjective linear programming problems. The procedure and efficiency of this approach are shown with numerical simulations.     

A comment on pure-strategy Nash equilibria in competitive diffusion games

In [N. Alon, M. Feldman, A.D. Procaccia, M. Tennenholtz, A note on competitive diffusion through social networks, Inform. Process. Lett. 110 (2010) 221–225], the authors introduced a game-theoretic model of diffusion process through a network. They showed a relation between the diameter of a given network and existence of pure Nash equilibria in the game. Theorem 1 of their paper says that a pure Nash equilibrium exists if the diameter is at most two. However, we have an example which does not admit a pure Nash equilibrium even if the diameter is two. Hence we correct the statement of Theorem 1 of their paper.     

Organelle Stress and Metabolic Derangement in Kidney Disease

Advanced multiomics analysis has revealed novel pathophysiological mechanisms in kidney disease. In particular, proteomic and metabolomic analysis shed light on mitochondrial dysfunction (mitochondrial stress) by glycation in diabetic or age-related kidney disease. Further, metabolic damage often results from organelle stress, such as mitochondrial stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, as well as interorganelle communication, or “organelle crosstalk”, in various kidney cells. These contribute to progression of the disease phenotype. Aberrant tubular mitochondrial lipid metabolism leads to tubular inflammation and fibrosis. This review article summarizes updated evidence regarding organelle stress, organelle crosstalk, and metabolic derangement in kidney disease.     

Evaluation of drug toxicity with hepatocytes cultured in a micro-space cell culture system

A micro-space cell culture system was recently developed in which cells such as hepatocytes can be cultured and formed into a multicellular three-dimensional (3D) architecture. In this study, we assessed the performance of HepG2 cells cultured in this micro-space cell culture system in a drug toxicity test, and evaluated the effects of micro-space culture on their hepatocyte-specific functions. The micro-space cell culture facilitated the formation of 3D HepG2 cell architecture. HepG2 cells cultured in a micro-space culture plate exhibited increased albumin secretion and enhanced mRNA expression levels of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme compared to those cultured in a monolayer culture. When the cells were exposed to acetaminophen, a hepatotoxic drug, the damage to the HepG2 cells grown in micro-space culture was greater than the damage to the HepG2 cells grown in monolayer culture. In addition, human primary hepatocytes grown in micro-space culture also exhibited increased albumin secretion, enhanced CYP mRNA expression levels and increased sensitivity to acetaminophen compared to those grown in monolayer culture. These results suggest that this micro-space culture method enhances the hepatocyte-specific functions of hepatocytes, including drug-metabolizing enzyme activities, making hepatocytes grown in the micro-space culture system a useful tool for evaluating drug toxicity in vitro.     

Contamination levels of PCDDs, PCDFs and Co-PCBs in commercial baby foods in Japan

To examine dioxin contamination in commercial baby foods in Japan, congener analyses of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) were performed on 102 varieties of baby foods obtained from supermarkets in 2001-2002. The toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) levels for dioxins in samples ranged from < 0.001 to 0.135 pg-TEQ/g wet weight when undetected or trace levels of congeners were taken as zero. Among 102 samples tested, 26 samples exceeded 0.010 pg-TEQ/g. The highest TEQ value was for "sardine, vegetables" (0.135 pg-TEQ/g), followed by "Japanese radish (daikon), sardine" (0.080 pg-TEQ/g). Thus, dioxins were detected at low levels in baby foods containing animal products such as fishes and/or dairy products.